KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knoxville City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday for their regular meeting, where they will make several decisions on whether to fund projects around the city, allow alcohol sales at Lakeshore Park and make several changes to the city's building codes.
The proposals are listed below.
Lakeshore Park Alcoholic Beverages
During the last Knoxville City Council meeting, leaders discussed whether they should allow alcohol sales at Lakeshore Park. Council members said the park is often used for gatherings and special events like weddings.
They said event organizers at Lakeshore Park requested the option to use a professional bartending company during events. They said servers at the events will need to have valid permit cards from the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
The ordinance would also make having open containers of alcoholic beverages legal in some areas of the park and would make open containers legal in areas where a special event is being held.
Officials clarified that small event organizers would need to get approval from an oversight committee for distributing alcohol at Lakeshore Park, and the Knoxville beer board would be allowed to grant a permit based on the agreement with the Lakeshore Park group.
Larger events will also still need to appear before the beer board. The new rules were passed and went into effect immediately.
Right-of-way Changes and Property Changes for Downtown Stadium
During the last city council meeting, leaders also talked about closing some right-of-ways in the area around the proposed stadium while infrastructure changes are built.
The proposals also authorize the mayor to deliver quitclaim deeds to the owners of property around the area that would show the city's interest in owning property surrounding the proposed stadium.
They include areas around Florida Street in the right-of-way between East Jackson Avenue and Willow Avenue. The area on the southern side of East Jackson Avenue, at the right-fo-way between Patton Street and Florida Street, would also be affected.
Several other areas around East Jackson Avenues would be affected by right-of-way closures and quitclaim deeds. They can be found online.
The closures will go into effect 17 days after the city council meeting, on March 11.
$3.5 million grant for Knoxville Area Transit System
The Tennessee Department of Transportation announced that it would distribute money to cities across the state as part of its Urban Operating Assistance Program. They decided Knoxville Area Transit would get around $3.5 million.
The money was distributed based on data from the 2010 census, according to officials. It will need to be used for transit operating assistance. To receive the funds, Knoxville leaders also had to agree to maintain the same amount of money to the city's public transit systems as was budgeted last year.
If the resolution is approved, they will submit documents to receive the funds and be closer to having the extra money for KAT.
$25,000 for violence interruption programs through SEEED
The city will also decide on whether to spend $25,000 for violence interruption programs through Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development, a nonprofit. The programs are in response to a record number of homicides in recent years.
Many Black men and boys died in the violence, officials said, and it especially affected Black communities.
The programs will identify people who are most at risk for violence and engage with them to prevent deadly situations. They said the programs will be evidence-based and sustainable, and will also involve extensive research, planning and training.
They said SEED is one of the best organizations for these kinds of programs too since it has a track record of working with people directly impacted by gun violence.
The agreement with the city for the programs will last until May 31. It passed after council member Amelia Parker raised concerns that the city could spend more money on similar programs.
Request to recognize gun violence as a public health issue
Knoxville city council members Amelia Parker and Gwen McKenzie requested that the city leadership recognize gun violence as a public health issue primarily affecting Black communities in the city. They said Black victims made up 30 out of the 40 gun-related homicides in Knoxville during 2021.
"With 40 gun-related homicides, 2021 marked the highest year for homicides in the city of Knoxville according to FBI data dating back to 1985," the resolution says.
While gun violence affects people of all ages and races in the U.S., they said it has disproportionate impacts on young adults as well as racial and ethnic minorities.
According to the resolution, the gun suicide rate also increased around 20% and the gun homicide rate increased around 103% from 2011 to 2020 in Tennessee. They increased at a slower rate across the U.S. and cost the country $280 billion annually including the cost of work loss, health care and effects of gun violence.
The resolution would formally have the council recognize gun violence as a public health crisis and call on the Tennessee legislature to pass laws strengthening public health data reporting, including information on the impact of gun violence.
It would also call for state leaders to improve access to prevention, treatment and support services, support research on trauma, advance gun safety and expand resources for teaching non-violent conflict resolution.
A copy of the resolution will also be sent to the state legislature.
Councilmember Thomas asked to be also added to the proposal as a sponsor to the bill. The motion carried, after Gwen McKenzie also spoke about how it could help the city get more funding to address gun violence in the city.
$3.4 million for first phase of 2022 Resurfacing Project
City leaders will decide on whether to work with Rogers Group Inc. on the first phase of its 2022 resurfacing project. The first phase includes around 14 miles of roads to be resurfaced and around 41-speed humps. Resurfacing work must be completed by July 31, officials said.
The first phase of the project will cost $3,439,380, according to documents from Rogers Group. Cit officials said the second phase of the project will be big in Spring 2022 and include even more streets.
KUB will provide around $433,510 for the project and the 41-speed humps will be paid for out of the Traffic Calming item in the Capital Budget.
Code changes for administrative provisions
City leaders will also discuss making some changes to its codes. For example, they will discuss creating a central fee schedule in the residential cole, removing the existing fee schedule as a way to simplify it.
Licensing requirements for city subtractors would also be simplified, so they are more in line with Tennessee's requirements. They will also go through the code to remove some redundant and confusing language, according to officials.
The code changes were discussed with stakeholders and a public meeting was held on Sept. 30, 2021.
It was approved, and the changes will be implemented on April 1.
Litter Pickup
The Mayor also discussed motions tow with many subcontractors and landscaping companies to handle an increase in litter across the city. Many agreements were proposed ranging in costs. For example, an agreement with Patriot Lawn Maintenance cost $110,400.